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waxcrash · Mar 12, 2009, 12:40 PM

Willis Tower just doesn't sound right. I keep think of Different Strokes when I hear the name. I know it's just a name, but what do you think?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,7014962.story

Dakar V · Mar 12, 2009, 12:41 PM

I think of Bruce Willis and Die Hard.

hyteckit · Mar 12, 2009, 12:49 PM

Whacha Talkin bout Willis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw9oX-kZ_9k

Luca Rescigno · Mar 12, 2009, 01:06 PM

Everyone will still call it the Sears Tower.

turtle777 · Mar 12, 2009, 01:44 PM

Awful name.

-t

Chuckit · Mar 12, 2009, 02:15 PM

The building was dead the whole time.

osiris · Mar 12, 2009, 02:22 PM

I hate when landmark buildings get renamed. I almost cried when the Pan Am building became Met Life, and the Hayden Planetarium became the Rose Center. Blasphemy.
But whatever, I don't own them.

ctt1wbw · Mar 12, 2009, 05:15 PM

I think it should be named after Ted Kennedy.

Captain Obvious · Mar 12, 2009, 05:40 PM

1) No one is going to call it anything other than the Sears Tower in this city

2) That stupid spire was scheduled* to replace its distinction in this city anyway

ctt1wbw · Mar 12, 2009, 07:43 PM

How about the JCPenny Tower? Or the WalMart Tower? Or maybe the Bed Bath and Beyond Tower?

Eriamjh · Mar 12, 2009, 09:31 PM

KMart owns sears. It's the KMart tower.

turtle777 · Mar 12, 2009, 09:34 PM

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

KMart owns sears. It's the KMart tower.

Uhm, yeah, well, except that it's the other way round. Fail.

-t

macforray · Mar 12, 2009, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Uhm, yeah, well, except that it's the other way round. Fail.

-t

Uhmmmm.......I don't think so.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/11/11338.html

turtle777 · Mar 12, 2009, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by macforray

Uhmmmm.......I don't think so.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/11/11338.html

Read the link you posted.

Sears was acquired by Kmart Holding Corp. in 2005. The deal formed a new parent company, Sears Holdings, which owns both chains.

Parent: Sears (Holding)

Underneath, there are 3 business segments:
Kmart, Sears Domestic and Sears Canada

Therefore, to say that "KMart owns Sears" is NOT correct.

-t

rickey939 · Mar 12, 2009, 11:53 PM

Hella-lame. I so won't jump off it now.

Salty · Mar 13, 2009, 02:22 PM

According to the article Sears doesn't even live there anymore and they don't own the building. Kinda makes sense.

Person Man · Mar 13, 2009, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Read the link you posted.

Parent: Sears (Holding)

Underneath, there are 3 business segments:
Kmart, Sears Domestic and Sears Canada

Therefore, to say that "KMart owns Sears" is NOT correct.

-t

Well, to be fair, it is very confusing, because of the name change.

KMart (as KMart Holding Corp) bought Sears. Then KMart Holding Corp changed their name to Sears Holding Corp. So now Sears owns KMart.

So, Sears now owns KMart because KMart bought Sears. Doesn't make sense, but that's how it happened.

turtle777 · Mar 13, 2009, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Person Man

KMart (as KMart Holding Corp) bought Sears. Then KMart Holding Corp changed their name to Sears Holding Corp. So now Sears owns KMart.

Perhaps it was something like a reverse merger thing, just like the current takeover of Schering-Plough by Merck.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1255...reverse-merger

-t

Person Man · Mar 13, 2009, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Perhaps it was something like a reverse merger thing, just like the current takeover of Schering-Plough by Merck.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1255...reverse-merger

-t

Reading the descriptions of a reverse merger that you posted above and looking at the story on the Wikipedia entry on Sears Holdings Corp makes it sound like a reverse merger, but the Wikipedia Entry doesn't specifically say "reverse merger" and the still-existing publicly accessible sources for the Wikipedia article don't mention a reverse merger either.

alligator · Mar 13, 2009, 07:40 PM

People may not stop calling it the Sears tower. We still call our department store Daytons even though it is now owned by Macy's. When companies are bought out, the general public may not go along with it.

ctt1wbw · Mar 13, 2009, 08:25 PM

I wonder how many people still call it "Candlestick Park" and "Three Rivers Stadium" too? Or "Mile High Stadium"??? I hate corporate names that take over landmarks. Even though Sears Tower is corporate, it's always been know n that way.

subego · Mar 13, 2009, 08:26 PM

I thought I'd keep saying "Marshall Field's" after Macy's took it over, but they were such total assholes about it I found myself calling it "Macy's" as a pejorative.

ghporter · Mar 14, 2009, 10:12 PM

In downtown Detroit, there's a building called the Penobscot building at 625 Griswold St., exactly in the middle of downtown. In the late '70s the National Bank of Commerce bought the building and put a big "NBC" sign on it. Know what everybody called the building? "The Penobscot Building." It's still called that.

Moral? In 5 years nobody will remember "Willis" (except for "whatcha talkin' bout, Willis?) and it'll be "the Sears Tower" to everybody.

subego · Mar 14, 2009, 11:02 PM

Penobscot.

I call Conspiracy!

CharlesS · Mar 14, 2009, 11:15 PM

Originally Posted by Person Man

Reading the descriptions of a reverse merger that you posted above and looking at the story on the Wikipedia entry on Sears Holdings Corp makes it sound like a reverse merger, but the Wikipedia Entry doesn't specifically say "reverse merger" and the still-existing publicly accessible sources for the Wikipedia article don't mention a reverse merger either.

Maybe it was like the whole SBC/Cingular/AT&T thing, where SBC bought AT&T but thought that AT&T's name was more recognizable, so they changed their own name (and Cingular's) to AT&T?

Captain Obvious · Jul 17, 2009, 01:13 AM

its done.

ghporter · Jul 17, 2009, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

its done.

On paper, and on the signs in the building. But I stand by my prediction that in a few years everyone in Chicago will still call it "the Sears Tower."

Laminar · Jul 17, 2009, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

On paper, and on the signs in the building. But I stand by my prediction that in a few years everyone in Chicago will still call it "the Sears Tower."

The wha-? Oh, you mean the Willis Tower.

nonhuman · Jul 17, 2009, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by ctt1wbw

I wonder how many people still call it "Candlestick Park" and "Three Rivers Stadium" too? Or "Mile High Stadium"??? I hate corporate names that take over landmarks. Even though Sears Tower is corporate, it's always been know n that way.

I don't even know what I would call it other than Candlestick Park.

I still call the new(er) Giant's stadium PacBell Park too...